


In Different Worlds, I Love You Still.

by shannonsaid



Category: Marvel, Marvel (Comics), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-15
Updated: 2016-06-15
Packaged: 2018-07-15 04:00:57
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 700
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7206905
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shannonsaid/pseuds/shannonsaid
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>This is what happens when Marvel tries to convince me that the only woman James Buchanan Barnes loves across time and multiple universes is some weird blue alien woman.</p>
            </blockquote>





	In Different Worlds, I Love You Still.

Jealousy.

It was something Natasha knew how to exploit. She could mold it and twist it and fold it into the most deadly of weapons.

It wasn’t, however, an emotion she knew personally. It wasn’t even an emotion she was on a first name basis with, but as she watched the couple giggling and laughing in the corner, jealousy bubbled in her stomach.

Natasha knew their love story. She knew their whispered promises and stolen kisses and gentle touches. Because it was _her_ love story too.

Just not here. Not in this world.

Her hand tightened around her glass, as she turned away from the pair. She had accepted this Op because it was supposed to be easy, because she _knew_ them. Because she was **one** of them.

Natasha knew of the existence of other worlds, had even met people who had come from them. But nothing, in any world, could have prepared her for seeing the man she loved, love someone else. Even if that some else was her.

“Everything all right, ma’am?”

Her eyes slid to the man beside her. He wasn’t looking at her, but she’d recognize that profile anywhere. It was the same profile she had spent many sleepless nights memorizing, while he feigned sleep beside her.

Natasha nodded curtly. She might have been hiding behind a face that wasn’t her own, but she didn’t trust her voice not to flow with the same emotion it always did when she spoke to him.

Turning to face her, he leaned against the bar. “Are you sure? You’ve spent the better part of a week following us around, and as history has taught me, it’s never a good sign when you’re being tailed.”

Natasha wasn’t surprised that he had spotted her tail. She was good, but he had always been better.

“You’re in danger.” She nodded in the direction of the redhead with her face, “you both are.”

He quirked an eyebrow. “From you?”

She shook her head. “Consider me, protective detail.”

His cocked his head to the side, “I’ve never needed protection before. So, what makes this time any different, _Natasha_?”

So he knew.

“How’d you know?” She asked calmly, as her insides squirmed.

He leaned toward her, “you move like her. You smell like her. And even though you’re wearing anothers face, you sound like her.”

“But, I’m not her,” she said leaning away from him.

The left side of his mouth lifted into a smirk. “Are you jealous?”

Lifting her drink to her lips, she took a sip before answering him. “No.”

“Yes, you are.” He laughed, his head falling back on his shoulders. “You forget that I know you, Natasha.”

Her shoulder lifted in a shrug, “then why ask?”

“Validation.”

It was her turn to laugh. “No. Ego. You forget that I know you too, James.”

He grinned. “Touche.” He took a sip of his own drink. “Tell me about this threat.”

Natasha was thankful for the subject change. She wasn’t sure how much longer she could pretend **not** to be in the love with the man in front of her.

Reaching into her purse, she set a folder down on the bar. “They’re from my world. They’ve been after the Black Widow and the Winter Soldier for decades. They’ve never come close to defeating us, because we’re always prepared. Because we expect them to come after us. But they may have found a loophole. They believe that if they kill us in one world, they kill us in every world. And although there isn’t any proof that that’s what would happen, we can’t find anything that disproves it either.”

He wrapped his hands around his glass. “And that’s why you’re here.”

She nodded. “Protective detail.” Her eyes traveled to the redhead in the corner with her face. “You should get back.”

Lifting the folder off the bar, he slid it into his jacket. “And you should get back to me.” He leaned forward, pressing a kiss to her temple. “Because if your James is anything like me, and something tells me he is, there’s nothing worst than being without you.”

Her breath hitched, as his lips met her temple. “Stay warm, James.”

“Always.”


End file.
